Profiles

Design and Technology (MFA)

Jackie Myint

“The moment of wonder.” In a 2013 TED Talk, Jacky Myint, MFA Design and Technology ’02, expressed the hope that those encountering her work would share that experience. Myint thrives in such moments, the split second between idea and innovation. An interactive designer for the New York Times, she frees narratives from words and static images, enabling readers to discover stories as participants instead of observers.

Myint was part of the creative team behind the game-changing article “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek” (see images above), which recounted the period just before the Washington State disaster that trapped 16 skiers and snowboarders. What at first appears to be photographs suddenly comes to life, and graphic models and maps shift and rotate, depicting the snowy terrain that victims and rescuers faced.

“My job is to take the meaningful parts of a narrative and connect them in visually exciting ways,” Myint says. “But more than that, I have to let the story tell itself.” In her work, digital storytelling is an innovative and experiential, if fleeting, invitation into new worlds.